The Bar’s proposed system for handling complaints as drawn up by the Complaints System Working Group is by no means perfect. The Legal Services Ombudsman Michael Barnes has described it in a letter on this page as “modest and overdue”. It does not deal with advocates’ immunity. Nor does it deal with the subject of […]
PERSONAL injury barristers have burst on to the Bar political scene with the election of the president of their newly-formed group on to the council. Personal Injury Bar Association president Daniel Brennan QC is one of the three silks to be voted on to the council in this year’s round of elections. The association was […]
A SENIOR healthcare lawyer at McKenna & Co has called for medical product pricing decisions to be kept out of court after his firm’s successful action on vitamin prices. Healthcare partner Gary Hickinbottom said the Office of Fair Trading was best placed to resolve the public interest issues involved. His comments come after McKennas won […]
A courts service strike over government privatisation plans has moved a step nearer after a union ballot registered a vote for action. If other ballots produce the same result, unions will call a strike over staff fears concerning the £60 million project finance initiative (PFI) “outsourcing” of computer and administration systems in County and Crown […]
Where can you find an accountant, a trichologist and a career profiler? With expert witnesses hitting the headlines in the OJ Simpson and Rosemary West cases, this year’s Expert Witness event at the Barbican Centre’s Red Hall on 29-30 November is happening at just the right time. The event has attracted almost 80 exhibitors to […]
The Maxwell trial at Chichester Rents Courts provides an example of how in-court technology can be used today. After some teething problems, the much-hyped technology, which uses computers, monitors and CD-ROMs, has helped reduce the amount of paperwork used by both sides and will save a lot of the time and expense associated with lengthy […]
US corporate finance and securities firm Debevoise & Plimpton is closing its seven-year-old Los Angeles office and offering to return staff to New York. The firm, which has lawyers across the US as well as in Paris, London, Hong Kong, Budapest and Prague, has already begun its “phasing down” programme. Seven of the 12 lawyers […]
Cameron Markby Hewitt European competition and energy law specialist Sue Hankey has been seconded to the University of Dundee’s Centre for Petroleum/Mineral Law and Policy. Hankey will act as project manager and principal legal consultant on a European Commission technical assistance contract to provide advice on energy laws and policy in the Ukraine. The tender, […]
Sussex law firms Wynne Baxter Godfree and Lewis Holman & Lawrence have announced their merger. The combined Lewes and Uckfield firm, which will practice under the name of Wynne Baxter Godfree incorporating Lewis Holman & Lawrence, will be headed by Wynnes senior partner Martin Costin. Lewis Holman senior partner Maureen Samuels becomes a consultant.
In a story last week about the Bar Council’s dismissal of all its professional misconduct charges against Jonathan Goldberg QC it was stated that Mr Justice Laws was a complainant. We wish to point out that this was not the case and the complainant was David Cocks QC. It was conceded by leading counsel for […]
CLYDE & Co is beefing up its Asian presence in the run-up to the 1997 Hong Kong hand-over by sending key commercial litigation partners out to the region. Martin Heath, who returns for his second stint in the Far East, starts in the 18-lawyer Hong Kong office next month. He will be joined by aviation […]
THE LORD Chancellor says he wants to see an end to ignorance about different cultures in the legal system. Speaking at this year’s Kapila Lecture held at the Inns of Court School of Law, Lord Mackay said: “A person can unwittingly give an indication of unfairness if some aspect, say of a defendant’s culture, is […]